I'm just being curious, so what kind of bit do you use, what kind of horse is it(breed, temperment) and what do you do?Blue- Full Cheek Happy Mouth- just swithched from Full Cheeck twisted snaffle, I think the old bit was causeing her pain. Bad mommy! But she seems to like this better. I am going to be able to start jumping her again( she was deathly sick early november) soon and she is just my baby! She is an APHCat and Jack- Eggbutt snaffle- They just need something soft, Cat needs it cause she is just old( she was a champion reiner) and Jack is just training with it till we figure out what we need for him! They are both small QHs.

I use a french link fulmer for mouthing and then breaking, I use it for a couple of months until they get the idea of giving to the presure on the bit.
After that, all my horses use french link loose ring snaffles. They each have their own special bridle and bit.
We do dressage, showjumping, showring, school over XC jumps, and trail riding.

I'll name my horse and only a couple that I ride, otherwise this post would be super long!
For Ty (my horse-NSH-gelding) I use a loose-ring rolled french link snaffle. Vinny (Gypsy-stallion) I show in a smooth broken kimberwick, but I've been schooling him in a twisted snaffle. Flash (Belgian-stallion) d-ring happy mouth snaffle. Bullet (Gypsy-stallion) twisted snaffle. Tiger (Saddlebred-gelding) re-training in full bridle (twisted snaffle&curb).

Okay, that's all I'll post. A lot of the horses I ride come with stronger bits, and I eventually work them down into being safe in gentler bits.

I'll name my horse and only a couple that I ride, otherwise this post would be super long!
For Ty (my horse-NSH-gelding) I use a loose-ring rolled french link snaffle. Vinny (Gypsy-stallion) I show in a smooth broken kimberwick, but I've been schooling him in a twisted snaffle. Flash (Belgian-stallion) d-ring happy mouth snaffle. Bullet (Gypsy-stallion) twisted snaffle. Tiger (Saddlebred-gelding) re-training in full bridle (twisted snaffle&curb).

Okay, that's all I'll post. A lot of the horses I ride come with stronger bits, and I eventually work them down into being safe in gentler bits.

TB jumper - mulen mouth pelham b/c he has a VERY sensitive mouth, and responds best to the mullen and likes the pelham. He actually gets very mouth sore in a simple single jointed snaffle b/c he has a low soft palate and will run through a simple 3 piece bit. He's quite happy in the pelham, and I prefer the added level of communication (note: NOT control, communication) that I have with the double reins when doing jumpers.

TB jumper mare full sister to the above gelding - also very sensitive mouthed but prefers a single jointed snaffle as opposed to a mullen as she will lean on a mullen. She goes very well in a loose ring happy mouth and although she can get strong, she responds to seat and leg very well.

Arab gelding - eventing, formerly a race horse - cyprium french link b/c he's learning to accept the bit rather than brace and lean on it. I'm also spending a lot of time riding him in just a halter and lead to let his mouth relax as he adjusts as he's a new rescue.

Dressage TB gelding - full cheeck snaffle, because he gets stiff in the neck due to past back injuries and he doesn't need anything more than a snaffle. No keepers on the full cheek, he's very soft mouthed and once he's back in better shape I doubt that he'll even need the full cheek since he's been seeing the chiro regularly for years and is ready to finally be back in work! (another horse reared while playing and fell across his back with all 4 feet off the ground in turnout, and then after recovering, he reinjured it in the field)

Clyde/TB cross - eventer/field hunter - Loose ring happy mouth b/c while he's big (17.2 almost 17.3, and about 1800 pounds), he's got a soft mouth. When in the field, or for XC, he'll go in a 2 ring elevator hapy mouth so that I have the added control of leverage since he's still got a soft mouth, but when he gets excited, and 1800 pounds wants to go that ---> way, you go that ---> way lol! The 2 ring elevator helps me say hey! Dude! I'm still up here and we need to turn now!!! Though in stadium he's fine in his loose ring. On occasion when he's strong, but I want something between the loose ring and the 2-ring, i'll use the loose ring happy mouth with a balanda noseband. I got it on sale and it's by CWD (LOVE their leather) and it's basically a padded smaller/softer version of a crank for field hunting, that has 2 pieces of elastic that go from the front center of the noseband to each ring of the loose ring bit. When I pull back, it adds a little nose pressure to again help him remember I'm still riding! It's a nice midway b/t the loose ring and the 2-ring bits.

Denny is a 7 year old 16.2hh OTTB gelding. He's currently just working on the flat (off the track as of September, then off for 3 months due to injury) and getting back into shape. Eventually he's going to be my hunter. He works really well so far in just a happy mouth loose ring french link. I'd personally prefer a D-ring just so the sides don't pinch, but I use bit guards instead, might look at getting a D-ring in the future.

Drifter, my coming 4 year old solid paint - a bosal.
Toby, my 7 year old haflinger - D-ring snaffle, arched mullen pelham, bosal, hackamore, or even bridleless when we are in the arena. It all depends on what we want to do.
Apache, my husbands coming 4 year old draft cross - a side-pull. He's pretty laid back and only goes on relaxing trail rides. Has plenty of whoa and not much go - perfect for my husband.

TB jumper - mulen mouth pelham b/c he has a VERY sensitive mouth, and responds best to the mullen and likes the pelham. He actually gets very mouth sore in a simple single jointed snaffle b/c he has a low soft palate and will run through a simple 3 piece bit. He's quite happy in the pelham, and I prefer the added level of communication (note: NOT control, communication) that I have with the double reins when doing jumpers.

TB jumper mare full sister to the above gelding - also very sensitive mouthed but prefers a single jointed snaffle as opposed to a mullen as she will lean on a mullen. She goes very well in a loose ring happy mouth and although she can get strong, she responds to seat and leg very well.

Arab gelding - eventing, formerly a race horse - cyprium french link b/c he's learning to accept the bit rather than brace and lean on it. I'm also spending a lot of time riding him in just a halter and lead to let his mouth relax as he adjusts as he's a new rescue.

Dressage TB gelding - full cheeck snaffle, because he gets stiff in the neck due to past back injuries and he doesn't need anything more than a snaffle. No keepers on the full cheek, he's very soft mouthed and once he's back in better shape I doubt that he'll even need the full cheek since he's been seeing the chiro regularly for years and is ready to finally be back in work! (another horse reared while playing and fell across his back with all 4 feet off the ground in turnout, and then after recovering, he reinjured it in the field)

Clyde/TB cross - eventer/field hunter - Loose ring happy mouth b/c while he's big (17.2 almost 17.3, and about 1800 pounds), he's got a soft mouth. When in the field, or for XC, he'll go in a 2 ring elevator hapy mouth so that I have the added control of leverage since he's still got a soft mouth, but when he gets excited, and 1800 pounds wants to go that ---> way, you go that ---> way lol! The 2 ring elevator helps me say hey! Dude! I'm still up here and we need to turn now!!! Though in stadium he's fine in his loose ring. On occasion when he's strong, but I want something between the loose ring and the 2-ring, i'll use the loose ring happy mouth with a balanda noseband. I got it on sale and it's by CWD (LOVE their leather) and it's basically a padded smaller/softer version of a crank for field hunting, that has 2 pieces of elastic that go from the front center of the noseband to each ring of the loose ring bit. When I pull back, it adds a little nose pressure to again help him remember I'm still riding! It's a nice midway b/t the loose ring and the 2-ring bits.

Wow! How high do you jump? Just wondering! BTW the horse in your avatar is gourgeous!

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.